Elderflower Champagne

[Hilary]

I use this for elderflower champagne and havnt had a blow out yet dispite powerful fizzing on unscrewing finished product

I noticed this quote from velocipede in the ginger beer thread. Care to share a recipe?

[bobb]

My dad used to make gallons of the stuff when I was a kid. As far as I remember, it's just loads of elderflower heads in a ginormous bucket of water and enough sugar to make you puke.

There were often loud bangs in the middle of the night as the bottles exploded 

[Little Jim]

My dad used to make gallons of the stuff when I was a kid. As far as I remember, it's just loads of elderflower heads in a ginormous bucket of water and enough sugar to make you puke.

plus the juice and zest of one lemon.

We try and make it every year, I can't remember excatly how much sugar (apart from a lot) but it is 40 flower heads to one gallon of water, plus sugar (about a bag) and lemon, stir, cover and leave in a bucket for 24 hours.  Enjoy the aroma around the house and then bottle.  They say to leave for at least 4 weeks, but I think that is a bit early and still tastes syrupy, 6 to 8 weeks is better.  We use plastic lemonade bottles, but you do have to let the pressure off regularly - our last bottle had a 4 inch air gap at the top when we came to open it, it had been just about ful when made.  The label had split, the bottom of the bottle was bulging out, and the bottle made a high pitched ringing sound when tapped.  As the gas was released and the bottle returned to normal size the air gap just about disapeared.

Well worth the effort to make.

Edit:

This is Hugh F-W's recipie, and is basically the same as ours, except we don't bother with hot water or yeast, and the champagne definately benifits from a longer maturing period.  One web site I saw said they had kept it for 2 years.  I do know that the longer you keep it the more alcohol it contains.  We tried one bottle after 2 weeks and it was not a patch on the later stuff.


Ingredients
About 24-30 elderflower heads, in full bloom
2kg sugar
4 litres hot water
Juice and zest of four lemons
1-2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
A pinch of dried yeast (you may not need this)

Method: How to make elderflower champagne

1. Put the hot water and sugar into a large container (a spotlessly clean bucket is good) and stir until the sugar dissolves, then top up with cold water to 6 litres.

2. Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.

3. Cover with clean muslin and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. Take a look at the brew at this point, and if it’s not becoming a little foamy and obviously beginning to ferment, add a pinch of yeast.

4. Leave the mixture to ferment, again covered with muslin, for a further four days. Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin and decant into sterilised glass bottles.

5. Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for a further eight days before serving, chilled.

[docsquid]

A very helpful recipe.  I've got gallons of elderberry wine doing at the moment in the cupboard, but could do with something for elderflowers too in the spring to prevent the huge glut of berries in the autumn.

[Mrs Pingu]

the champagne definately benifits from a longer maturing period.  One web site I saw said they had kept it for 2 years.  I do know that the longer you keep it the more alcohol it contains.  We tried one bottle after 2 weeks and it was not a patch on the later stuff.

We found the same with our ginger beer actually. I thought the GB after 2 weeks tasted horribly syrupy, only good for children. We left the rest of it out in the shed over the winter and tried it again when we remembered it in the spring (we'd made it in plastic pop bottles!), it was much much better!
In fact, I would also say the same about homebrew real ale - leave it in the shed for 6 months at least before you touch it.

[alan]

When I dropped into Marj's W.I. meeting last week I was forced to imbibe something made with Elderflowers.

[rafletcher]

We tend to make Elderflower Cordial - and it keeps amazingly well. Just now finishing the last half pint.

[velocipede]

My recipe comes from 'The Country Housewife's Handbook' published in 1948

2 heads elderflower in full bloom
1 gal. cold water.
1 Lemon
1 1/2 lbs. sugar.
2  tablespoons white vinegar.
Squeeze juice of lemon. Cut rind in four and put with all other ingredients in large vessel and pour on cold water. Steep 24 hours, strain and keep a fortnight, when it is ready for use.

Not a very specific recipe, but I have tried it and it works. I tend to use a bit less sugar and more elderflower heads. Pasteurise all my plastic fizzy water bottles in hottish water for 15 mins or so, bottle it up and drink it as and when after 2 weeks. Doesn't go off if left longer, just kep an eye on the pressure and release it once in a while. I read somewhere that it could be frozen in plastic bottles for a nice remembrance of summer when thawed out at Christmas time!

Mine doesnt last long enough to get frozen...... !